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Paul B. Farrell
April 19, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EDT
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By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) "” Doomsday Capitalism? Capitalism is killing America? Yes, that's the message in my tenth book. "Doomsday Capitalism, 10 Self-Destructive Trends." But you'll never see it in print. No one, even book publishers want to read this truth: Capitalism is destroying America.
Why? Super-Rich Capitalists get rich off these macro trends. They want happy talk. Back in 2007 Vanguard founder Jack Bogle called my warnings "prescient." But that didn't stop the meltdown. Next time financial historians warn of a bigger meltdown; a total collapse has been the destiny of every nation for eight centuries. This time, capitalism is the saboteur.
In the wake of Standard & Poor's warning that the U.S. AAA credit rating is at risk, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin explains to David Wessel why politicians are watching and what it might mean for a deal on the the deficit.
Yale scholar Immanuel Wallerstein warns that capitalism's at the end of a 500-year cycle: The "political struggle is over what kind of system will replace capitalism, not whether it should survive." We cannot stop this cycle.
Yes, Super-Rich Capitalists will fight to the death. But destiny is trapped in our DNA, historians warn, and will not change. America is run by these short-term thinkers. They never learn the lessons of history. They do not want you to know that their capitalism is self-destructive, that capitalism's cycle is in a suicidal end game, that their "mutant capitalism," as Bogle calls it, is destroying the very soul of America's democracy.
Instead, leaders inside this conspiracy want Americans to follow their rigid doctrine: In Milton Friedman's 1962 "Capitalism and Freedom," the bible of Reaganomics; In Ayn Rand's manifestos that guided Alan Greenspan and now Paul Ryan; and in Steve Forbes post-meltdown apologia, "How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today's Economy."
Capitalism has become a religion for the Super Rich, with many such "saviors." Heresies must be denied, such as this one: Doomsday Capitalism is destroying America from within. Here are highlights, with links to a few of the earlier hundred columns on topic. Ten macro trends building to a perfect storm, a critical mass, a flash point:
After our bankrupt Wall Street was resurrected in 2008 "” thanks to their Trojan Horse, an ex-Goldman CEO inside the Treasury conning trillions from a clueless Congress "” it became obvious that capitalism is killing America's soul. Nobody trusts government. And no matter who's elected, wealth, Wall Street and the Super Rich rule America; total collapse is coming.
Why? Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, said it best: "There is a war going on in this country "¦ the war waged by the wealthiest people in America on the disappearing and shrinking middle class of our country. The nation's billionaires are on the warpath. They want more, more, more. Their greed has no end and they are apparently unconcerned for the future of this country if it gets in the way of their accumulation of power and wealth."
Stop kidding yourself, democracy is dead: "All men are created equal" is a quaint political fiction. The public has no real say in a nation where wealth buys votes, a naive public is easily manipulated and elected officials have a price.
In "The Battle for Soul of Capitalism," Bogle warned us the "Invisible Hand" no longer serves "We the People" nor the public welfare. Today, Wall Street and the insatiable Super Rich 1% rule America. And they are obsessed with restoring the same unregulated free-market Reaganomics that loves gambling in the same speculative $580 trillion derivatives casino that triggered the 2008 meltdown.
The Super Rich have always had some hand in America's destiny, operating from the shadows. Today, this conspiracy of Wall Street, Corporate CEOs, politicians and Forbes 400 billionaires operates openly, with absolute power and an arrogance that is corrupting the nation's soul, their souls, your soul. This conspiracy has no moral compass , yet ironically, is legal.
Why? Wealth can easily buy favorable laws, making even the most unethical, selfish, corrupt behavior legal by fiat. And their high-priced lobbyists all over Washington, Congress, government regulatory agencies and the Fed all have the power to grab the rewards of capitalism for the Super Rich, while transferring the liabilities to the other, clueless 99% of America's taxpayers
Forget buzzwords like oligopoly, plutocracy, socialism. Today Washington is a pure anarchy, a game played by tens of thousands of high-priced lobbyists squeezing the best deals out of America's budget, solely for their clients' interests, never the general public. Our economy is a monopoly of Super-Rich Anarchists. They know the only votes that count are in Congress. And they're for sale.
Lobbyists are "brokers." Today there are 261,000 lobbyists brokering special interests, all fighting for the maximum possible slice of a $1.5 trillion federal budget pie "” special regulations, exemptions, loans, tax loopholes, earmarks, access, agency appointments, defense contracts, you name it "” endless gambits that further consolidate the power and wealth at the top for Super-Rich Donors.
Paul Farrell writes the column on behavioral economics. He's the author of nine books on personal finance, economics and psychology, including "The Millionaire Code," "The Winning Portfolio," "The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing." Farrell was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley; executive vice president of the Financial News Network; executive vice president of Mercury Entertainment Corp; and associate editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He has a Juris Doctor and a Doctorate in Psychology.
Until recently, when it came to managing earnings expectations, there were few companies that rivaled Goldman Sachs, but the market may not be the audience the bank needs to impress.
11:37 a.m. Today11:37 a.m. April 19, 2011
"10 Doomsday trends America can't survive http://on.mktw.net/eAUOXw" 11:49 p.m. EDT, April 18, 2011 from MKTWFarrell
"Lazy Portfolio winners battle 11 newcomers http://on.mktw.net/hi9n2y" 12:01 a.m. EDT, April 12, 2011 from MKTWFarrell
"Super-Rich CEOs are killing your retirement http://on.mktw.net/gKB1us" 12:02 a.m. EDT, April 5, 2011 from MKTWFarrell
"Tax the Super Rich now or face a revolution http://on.mktw.net/hmONLo" 12:09 a.m. EDT, March 29, 2011 from MKTWFarrell
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